Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-25

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The younger sister of one of your friends is thinking about spending a year studying abroad as part of her university course. You did this recently, and she has asked you about your experience.

Write a letter to your friend's sister. In your letter

• tell her where you studied during your year abroad

• describe what you learnt about the country you studied in

• explain why your year abroad was helpful for your studies

Begin your letter as follows:
Dear........,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Sahasra,

I am doing well, I hope you are also fine.I am pleasure to say about my experience in the Uk. I have completed my Post Graduation in 2025. I have chosen Musculoskeltal course in Physiotherapy department.

In addition, I studied Oxford Univerisity in cryodon. Which is located in the London. My course duration was one year. I stayed at near by hostel and I did part-time job also because in the UK we can not servive without sufficient money. As here accommodation or any domestic items all are very expensive.

Oxford University is a one of the excellent universities in the whole world. I learned a lot not only about my professional skills but also how to manage my personal life smoothly. If any one ask about the best university, I would higly recommend them this.

Additionally, this experience now is very useful to my career. In my clinic I am managing my clients very effectively, and I am getting good salary all because of I have an experience in the abroad.

Thank you for contacted me. If you have any other quessionaries let me know, I will do the needful.

Best regards,

Manasaa

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address all three requested points: you identify the UK and Oxford University, mention learning about professional and personal skills, and explain that the experience helps you manage clients in your clinic. The letter also has an appropriate greeting and sign-off. However, some parts are less fully developed than others. The country-learning point focuses mainly on university quality and personal independence, rather than specific things you discovered about life or culture in the UK. The study benefit is relevant but would be clearer with a concrete example of how your overseas learning improved your physiotherapy practice. Clarifying the study location would also help the reader understand your experience.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: it introduces your experience, gives details about studying and living abroad, then describes what you gained and closes politely. Paragraph breaks help distinguish these stages, and linking phrases such as “In addition” and “Additionally” signal new points. At times, however, the progression feels mechanical, with similar transitions used to begin paragraphs rather than showing the precise relationship between ideas. The sentence beginning “In addition, I studied Oxford University…” also makes the location details difficult to follow, and “this” in “I would highly recommend them this” has an unclear reference. Use more direct links and make each paragraph develop one clear aspect of the experience.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “Musculoskeletal course,” “Physiotherapy department,” “professional skills,” and “manage my personal life.” These choices communicate the general subject of your experience. However, noticeable spelling and word-choice errors sometimes make the reader pause, as in “cryodon,” “servive,” “higly,” and “quessionaries.” Some phrases are also unnatural or imprecise, such as “I am pleasure to say” and “I will do the needful.” The range is sufficient to convey basic information, but more accurate collocations and careful spelling would make the letter clearer and more natural. Prefer familiar, precise expressions over formal-sounding phrases that do not fit the context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more developed sentence forms, including “I learned a lot not only about my professional skills but also how to manage my personal life smoothly.” Most of the message remains understandable, but some grammatical errors affect clarity and naturalness. For example, “I studied Oxford University” needs a suitable preposition or verb construction, and “I am pleasure to say” has an incorrect sentence pattern. Articles and prepositions are also problematic in “in the London” and “stayed at near by hostel.” There are punctuation issues, such as the missing space after “fine.” and the fragment beginning “Which is located…”. Work on complete sentence construction, articles, and prepositions while continuing to use a mix of sentence types.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.